frightful : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: frightful	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for frightful
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
frightful adj provoking horror; "an atrocious automobile accident"; "a frightful crime of decapitation"; "an alarming, even horrifying, picture"; "war is beyond all words horrible"- Winston Churchill; "an ugly wound" Synonym(s): atrocious, frightful, horrifying, horrible, ugly extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money" Synonym(s): frightful, terrible, awful, tremendous extremely distressing; "fearful slum conditions"; "a frightful mistake" Synonym(s): fearful, frightful
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Frightful \Fright"ful\, a. 1. Full of fright; affrighted; frightened. [Obs.] See how the frightful herds run from the wood. --W. Browne. 2. Full of that which causes fright; exciting alarm; impressing terror; shocking; as, a frightful chasm, or tempest; a frightful appearance. Syn: Terrible; dreadful; alarming; fearful; terrific; awful; horrid; horrible; shocking. Usage: {Frightful}, {Dreadful}, {Awful}. These words all express fear. In frightful, it is a sudden emotion; in dreadful, it is deeper and more prolonged; in awful, the fear is mingled with the emotion of awe, which subdues us before the presence of some invisible power. An accident may be frightful; the approach of death is dreadful to most men; the convulsions of the earthquake are awful.